The Southern rail franchise and the RMT rail union can often seem to deserve one another. This is an equally absurd claim, especially this week, as the RMT conducts a five-day strike across the Southern network. The former talks as if irrational union obduracy is the only problem on the rail network when that is manifestly not the case. In Southern’s narrative, only the RMT’s blind defence of its members’ jobs stands in the way of an efficient and affordable modern rail system for thousands of commuters heading into London from Kent, Surrey and Sussex. For them, this week’s strike simply means the worsening of an already stressful and unpredictable battle to get into work.

Source: The Guardian August 08, 2016 18:56 UTC